Stand the test of time...

What makes an iconic photo? What is it about a photo that makes it stand out in our mind?
Is it a look? Is it the composition?
Even more, where does the talent lie, with the photographer or with the model? Or are they working in concert?
This all came about the other day with the sudden and recent death of Farrah Fawcett. I began to think what makes a photo 'iconic'? Could it be the relevancy of the image through time? Could it be that a photo has to have the same impact it had the day it was shot as it does today?
Well, if that is the case then that photo of Farrah had it in spades.
You know the one I'm talking about. The one with with Farrah sitting in that simple, red, one piece bathing suit, her head of long, full curls, languidly tossed back over her shoulders, wearing a smile that could easily outshine the stars.
That photo.
Immediately after her death it was one of the main photos of her that was repeatedly shown on television.
It is the quintessential photo of her. It is how everyone will remember her.

It was shot by photographer Bruce McBroom when she was only 29 years old. He was contacted by a guy from a poster company who told him that Farrah had said that she wanted him to hire Mr. McBroom to do her poster. She had previously hired two other photographers and didn't like the photos they took of her and now she wanted Mr McBroom to shoot them.
Mr McBroom agreed- the only caveat being that the guy from the poster company wanted it to be about Farrah's hair, she had to be smiling, she had to be in a bikini, and it had to be really, really, sexy.
Well, to start with, Farrah didn't have a bikini...
It was shot at the house she shared with her then husband, actor, Lee Majors. Farrah did her own hair and make-up.
The wardrobe came from her very own closet. They worked together, Mr.McBroom and Farrah did, to try to find the right look. The photographer suggesting different backgrounds, Farrah trying on varying pieces of swim wear. It took a very long time to get it right- all day in fact. In the photographers own words he was 'getting desperate'.
Finally he asked her if there was a piece in her house that she hadn't tried on yet and she said that she would go and look around. When she came out of the house in the red bathing suit she asked Mr. McBroom 'what do you think of this?'.
With one look he knew immediately this was the suit. And on his very last roll, in his very last frame, he knew he had the shot.
As for that famous backdrop, Mr. McBroom got the great idea to use an old blanket from his pick-up truck whose main usage was to hide the many holes in it's seat.

In the end it took many different factors to create this very special photo. Everything had to come together just right.
For instance, what if Farrah had found a bikini? What if it was a different color? What if it wasn't just the two of them at the shoot and she hadn't been the one to do her own hair and make-up? What if Mr. McBroom hadn't used the blanket from his truck?
As beautiful as Farrah was would the photo still stand out in our minds? Would millions of young boys still put that poster on their walls?
It's come to my attention that to capture an iconic photo one has to be a bit like an medieval alchemist: you have to put your faith in both what you can do and what the God's have put before you.
Sometimes it's not always just about talent...

One peg at a time...

Alright, picture it:
A giant mountain in the middle of a big city. Two novice mountain climbers dangerously trying to scale it's hilly side. They come in search of great photos, and with their feet clad solely in cheap sneakers and orthopedic insoles they almost find it, until one of them suddenly asks the other,
"Hey, can you get filters on your camera?"
Head held high, the other, self confessed, 'more experienced' one, confidently states, "no, I can't. It is your newer model camera that has that feature, but my slightly older model does not."
To which the first one replies, "Uh,.. have you read your camera manuel lately... or ever?"

Now, I wish I could tell you that this little parable was just that, a parable, a complete work of fiction but, sadly, I can not.
This was my very own experience a few weeks ago. Imagine me standing on top of a mountain with a freind ready for a day of shooting when this little question popped up into his head. And even more sad, this was not the first time that this question was put to me. About two months before I had another friend ask me the same question and I, very confidently, gave the same answer!
When I first got my camera I remember reading every page of my manuel but I just don't remember reading this page. I don't know how that could have happened!? My only explination is that there is some sort of black hole between it's pages that even the scientist at NASA haven't discovered yet! I could be sitting on a Nobel wining gold-mine here!!!

That aside,the whole experience was a little more than humbling, to say the least.. I thought that I knew quite a bit about photography. I thought that I had come farther than this in my photographic career, that I was smarter than tripping over these tiny, little hiccups.
But, no, it's clear that I'm not, and I haven't.
The sting from this experience has not gone away as yet, and I doubt that it will anytime soon. Oh, it may have lessened a tad, but I feel that it's true purpose is to always be there to remind me that I am not bigger than my whole. I don't always know everything. There is always room to go back and relearn.
Humility... it's a funny thing.. it's always teaching..

Did I mention that I also have a tone feature on my camera?
Sepia, purple, green, and blue. They are displayed here in that exact order.

Contests entries....really, really late..

I know that it's been a year since last I posted but I thought that I would keep my word and share with you a few more of my entries into the PhotoLife Image International Photo contest. Once again, I didn't win but that just means that I have to up my game for the next time.